By Alex Molina / info@eurohoops.net

Hapoel Tel Aviv is one of the new faces for this season’s Euroleague, and the Israeli team already has a win, a huge moment for both Dimitris Itoudis and the team.

As the former EuroLeague champion explained: “We were the better team in this historical moment. When you see (ed. note: club owner) Ofer Yannay crying, you understand how important this win is for Hapoel Tel Aviv. At the same time, we know that it’s the first game of many we will play in this marathon. Obviously, it’s historical because it happens against Barcelona, which has tons of experiences, trophies, and participations in Final Fours. We were better on the court, we played well enough to get the W and to read what was given from Barça’s defense”.

Despite being the best possible start, it’s just a game and a victory as Itoudis admitted: “I feel great, honoured. As a coach, I need to see the long run: 20 teams means 38 games in the regular season, and we just played the first one. This team keeps writing history; the first win in Euroleague happened against Barcelona in Sofia, not in front of our native crowd. It means a lot”.

Obviously, Hapoel Tel Aviv has essentially two different home courts, but they developed a system to make it work: “There is a system and structure: we have an assistant coach who will work out in Tel Aviv, and we will have the help of another coach here. We will gather more than eight players to keep them in shape. Tomorrow is Yom Kipur, that’s why we will fly tomorrow, to have time and respect the importance of Yom Kipur. We have a good structure”.

Dimitris Itoudis also wanted to thank the Bulgarian fans who supported the team: “When you see an 8.000 crowd… Congratulations also go to the Bulgarian crowd, who came over here to support. I congratulate the Bulgarian Federation on the volleyball win and the fans who came here. It’s an enormous help for us. The 8.000 fans are not only from Israel. It’s a big thing; we felt great. We had a lot of Bulgarian friends and from Greece. For us, it’s very important the hospitality that we are already feeling in Sofia, we feel like we are at home. It’s not the same as playing in Tel Aviv, but the two years that we are playing in Samokov and now Sofia, we feel very welcomed”.